Toothbrush

ABSTRACT

A first embodiment of a brush to facilitate the cleaning of teeth of human beings wherein the brush head has a plurality of longitudinal projections which non-removably cooperate with mating recesses within the brush handle. A second embodiment of the brush to facilitate the cleaning of teeth wherein the base of the brush cooperates in a tight fitting manner with the brush handle and is ejectable therefrom by a slidable wedge shaped member.

United States Patent US. Cl. ..l5/l76, 15/167 R Int. Cl. ..A46b 7/04Field of Search ..15/ 176, 167, 224 R, 194

4/1931 Gray ..15/l67RX 5/1933 Dodson ..15/l76 I III Thompson 1 Aug. 1,1972 [54] TOOTHBRUSH 2,719,315 10/1955 Sheehan ..l5/l76 X 1 Invenwfl ggThompson, L08 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS ge 626,239 10/1961 Italy..l5/l76 [73] Assignee: William B. Koerner, Topango, Caliti,

a part interest Primary Examiner- -Peter Feldman [22] File d: Oct. 12,I970 Attorney-Jessup 81. Beecher [2]] App]. No.: 80,002 [57] ABSTRACT Afirst embodiment of a brush to facilitate the cleaning of teeth of humanbeings wherein the brush head has a plurality of longitudinalprojections which nonremovably cooperate with mating recesses within thebrush handle. A second embodiment of the brush to facilitate thecleaning of teeth wherein the base of the brush cooperates in a tightfitting manner with the brush handle and is ejectable therefrom by aslidable wedge shaped member.

4 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures TOOTHBRUSH BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Thefield of this invention relates to hygiology and more particularly tothat branch of hygiology that deals with the teeth.

One of mans first thoughts was that of finding ways of keeping the bodyclean and therefore increasing ones life by preventing body decay. Manearly observed that his teeth were subject to premature decay unlesskept clean, and this had resulted in the invention of both thetoothbrush and dentifrice in many forms. However, with all the manyimprovements in this field, which is known to the average person asdental hygiene, man has failed to provide a satisfactory, inexpensivedisposable toothbrush.

Usually a toothbrush is formed of a rigid handle to which there issecured adjacent one end thereof several rows of bristles. Suchtoothbrushes have taken many forms and designs in an effort tofacilitate the cleaning of teeth. It has been common to design suchbrushes to last, for a substantial period of time. A particular type ofbristle is employed which is to retain its brush-like characteristicsafter a substantial period of time of continual use. Because of suchconstruction, the cost of such toothbrushes is sufficiently significantso as to preclude disposability.

Within recent years the populace has become progressively moretransient. Business men are taking a greater number of business tripseach year. Because the society in general has become more affluent,people have more leisure time which permits such people to spend moretime away from home. During the time in which people are away from home,the common procedure is to carry their toothbrush within their luggageor ontheir person. As a result, frequently the toothbrush comes intocontact with unsanitary conditions. One way to overcome the possibilityof a persons toothbrush becoming unsanitary is to employ the use of adisposable toothbrush of disposable toothbrush head.

Heretofore, there have been many attempts at designing such disposabletoothbrushes or disposable toothbrush heads. One of the maindisadvantages of disposable toothbrushes in the prior art has been themanufacturing cost. For such a toothbrush to be in widespread use, thecost of such must be so small that the user is not apprehensive aboutdiscarding such after a single use. In the designing of disposabletoothbrush heads, wherein the handle is employed over and over again, nomeans has been employed to facilitate the removal of the head after use.Further, the inserting of the head within the handle has not been asimple and quick operation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The first embodiment of the toothbrush of thisinvention employs the use of a rigid handle within which are formed atone end thereof a plurality of longitudinal recesses. The recesses havesubstantially parallel sidewalls with the recesses being separated by asubstantially thin wall. The thin wall between adjacent recesses is tocooperate in an interference fit between adjacent longitudinalprojections formed upon the base of the brush head. Once the brush headis forcibly pressed into cooperation with the recesses, the brush headthusly becomes substantially integral with the handle with the entiretoothbrush being designed to be used once and discarded.

The second embodiment of the toothbrush of this invention employs theuse of a brush head which is to be firmly retained within arectangularly shaped recess within the toothbrush handle. The base ofthe brush head is to be slightly oversized with respect to the recesswithin the handle and so when inserted within the recess would retainthe brush head therein and prevent it from being accidentally dislodgedduring normal use. A wedge shaped member is slidably mounted upon thehandle and is to be capable of manual actuation to locate the apex ofthe wedge between the brush head and the handle. As a result, the brushhead becomes disassociated with the handle thereby effecting removal ofthe used brush head and permitting reinstallation of a new brush head.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view of thesecond embodiment of the toothbrush of this invention taken along lines4-4 of FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE SHOWN EMBODIMENTS Referring particularly tothe first embodiment of thisinvention, there is shown in FIG. 1 atoothbrush 10 hav- 7 ing a handle 12 and a brush head 14. The brush head14 is composed of bristles 16 which are secured to a base 18. Aplurality of longitudinal projections 20 are secured to base 18 in aparallel relation. Projections 20 are adjacently spaced apart forminggaps 22 therebetween. Each of the gaps 22 are to be of equal width. Eachof the projections 20 are to have substantially parallel side wallswhich surround the free end.

Adjacently located to the fore end 24 of handle 12 are a plurality oflongitudinal recesses 26. It is to be noted that three such recesses 26are shown in the drawing and are to be so located as to matinglycooperate with the projections 20 of the brush head 14. Between adjacentrecesses 26 is a wall 28. Each of the recesses 26 are to havesubstantially parallel side walls and of sufficient depth to permit fullcooperation of a projection 20. The width of the walls 28 are to be suchthat upon cooperation of projections 20 within the recesses 26, aninterference fit occurs between each wall 28 and its respective gap 22.Actually, the arrangement is such that substantial force is to berequired to insert projections 20 within the recesses 26. But, upon suchcooperation being effected, the projections 20 snap into cooperationwith the recesses 26 thereby forming a substantially integral unitbetween the handle 12 and the brush head 14. Because the brush head 14is pressed into cooperation with the handle 12 in a single movement, theapparatus (not shown) to effect such movement is relatively noncomplexand small in physical size. As a result, the expense for such machineryis not significant. Also, such a machine can mass produce a large numberof toothbrushes in a relatively short period of time. Therefore, themanufacturing cost of each toothbrush is held to a minimum. In actualpractice, it is envisioned that each toothbrush will cost only a fewcents apiece. Therefore, even the most cost conscious individual shouldnot be apprehensive about using the toothbrush and discarding such aftera single use.

Within FIGS. 3 and 4 of the drawing the second embodiment. 30 of thetoothbrush of this invention is shown. Toothbrush 30 includes a handle32 and a brush head 34. Brush head 34 includes bristle 36 which issecured to a base 38.

Within the handle 32 at the fore end 40 thereof is formed arectangularly shaped recess 42. The dimensions of recess 42- are to beslightly in excess of the rectangularly shaped base 38 of the brush head34. The arrangement between the brush head 34 and the handle 32 is suchthat the base 38 may be easily inserted with manual force within recess42, However, the base 38 is retained within recess 42 sufiiciently toprevent accidental dislodgement thereof during usage of the toothbrush30. Again, the action of inserting the base 38 within recess 42resembles a snap action wherein an interference fit is provided betweenthe base 38 and the recess 42. However, the interference fit within thesecond embodiment 30 is substantially less than the force of theinterference fit within the first embodiment l0.

Formed within the lower side of handle 32 is a slot 44. The shankportion of the headed fastener 46 passes through slot 44 and is securedto a member 48. The.

head portion of fastener 46 is not capable of passing through slot 44.Member 48 is slidably movable with respect to handle 32, limitedby thelength of slot 44. Member 48 has an enlarged portion 50 at one endthereof which is designed to facilitate manual graspingthereof. The freeend of member 48 is beveled to form a wedge 52. Wedge 52 is to belocated adjacent base 38 of the brush head 34. By manual movement ofmember 48 toward brush'head 34, the wedge 52 is to move between the base38 and the fore end 40 of the handle 32. A notch 54 upon base 38facilitates the insertion of wedge 52 between base 38 and fore end 40.When the wedge 52 has been moved sufficiently wherein adequate thicknessof the wedge 52 is located between the base 38 and the fore end 40, thebrush head 34 is caused to be removed from recess 42. Removal of brushhead 34 would normally be accomplished after usage. Upon the used brushhead 34 being removed, it is to be discarded. A new brush head is thento be inserted within recess 42 after retraction of member 48 in the aftposition shown in FIG. 4 of the drawing.

It is to be considered that one skilled in the art could readily employnumerous modifications without departing from the scope of thisinvention. For example, the headed fastener 46 and notch arrangement 44is only one of many ways in which member 48 is to be located adjacent tohandle 32 and permitted longitudinal movement within a certain range.Also, although the material of construction of both the head and handleof both first and second embodiments is envisioned to be a plastic,other materials of construction could be i'fi i i$83823bffiliiilllfiiilbiifii285%? U 6 tion. The bases 18 and 38 of thebrush heads 14 and 34, respectively, are each to be formed of a rigidplastic construction but somewhat less rigid than the handles andpossessing a certain amount of inherent resiliency. The resiliency ofthe bases is to facilitate cooperation of such with their respectivehandle. The bristles l6 and 36 are to also be formed of plastic but of aplastic material which is substantially more resilient than the bases 18and 38. However, the bristles l6 and 36 must be sufficiently rigid toeffect a cleaning of the teeth but at the same time be deflectable so asto not cause injury to the users gums. As previously stated, thetoothbrush of this invention is tobe primarily employed by a transientpopulace. However, because the expense of each of the toothbrushes isdesigned to be insignificant, individuals could readily employ such atoothbrush on a daily basis. For example, people could carry such atoothbrush on their person to the place where they work so as to brushtheir teeth after a meal at work.

What is claimed is: l. A toothbrush comprising: a handle element havinga recess formed adjacent one end thereof; a brush head to cooperate withsaid recess in a tight fitting manner; means movable into contact withsaid brush head to effect removal of such from said recess; and saidmeans comprises a wedge shaped member connected to said handle element,said wedge shaped member being manually movable between a fore positionand an aft position, said fore position being when a portion of saidwedge shaped member is located between said brush head and said handleelement, said aft position being when said wedge shaped member is not incontactual relationship with said brush head.

2. A toothbrush as defined in claim 1 wherein:

said wedge shaped member is in continuous contactual relation with saidhandle element.

3. A toothbrush as defined in claim 2 wherein:

said brush head being formed of a less rigid material than said handleelement.

4. A toothbrush as defined in claim 3 wherein:

said recess being substantially rectangular in configuration.

1. A toothbrush comprising: a handle element having a recess formedadjacent one end thereof; a brush head to cooperate with said recess ina tight fitting manner; means movable into contact with said brush headto effect removal of such from said recess; and said means comprises awedge shaped member connected to said handle element, said wedge shapedmember being manually movable between a fore position and an aftposition, said fore position being when a portion of said wedge shapedmember is located between said brush head and said handle element, saidaft position being when said wedge shaped member is not in contactualrelationship with said brush head.
 2. A toothbrush as defined in claim 1wherein: said wedge shaped member is in continuous contactual relationwith said handle element.
 3. A toothbrush as defined in claim 2 wherein:said brush head being formed of a less rigid material than said handleelement.
 4. A toothbrush as defined in claim 3 wherein: said recessbeing substantially rectangular in configuration.